ZERO driver control = Good Irons

[mdbuschsr]

I just finished a round where I had absolutely ZERO control of my driver. I have never played more provisional balls in my life (probably combined). In an 18 hole round I had to hit 16 provisionals. Fortunately I only had to use two of them. I was playing a new-to-me course for the first time, so I didn't really know where the trouble or openings were. Several lucky breaks helped immensely.

On the other hand I was obliterating all of my irons. For instance a 151 yard par 3 playing downhill about 6-8'... I hit my first shot WAY over the green and thought I was in the water with an 8i. I hit a provisional 9i choked down, and blew it over the green as well, and into the water. Finally I hit a PW and stuck it 4' left & pin high. Fortunately, I found my first ball on the edge of the pond and was able to play it, so all of the provisionals went back in the bag.

Normally my 150 club is 6-7 iron. I hit the 8 because of the down slope, and I was hoping that I'd make the front edge. But the whole round went that way. I had to drop at least one club for every iron shot, and still had many fly over the green.

[chef35ca]

I've had that happen on alot of rounds. I just chalk it up to my incurable hackeritess. That is, my swing plane is more suited for irons shots somedays & woods another.

I had one round where i was pounding my driver. Didn't hit one under 265 & hit one over 280 For some, not much. For me, pretty outstanding. Couldn't hit a damn iron to save my life.

Opposite last round. Was ok-mediorcre with the 3wd off the tee, irons were great, wedges were all over the place & putter was demon possessed.

[Dave H]

I tend to have the same problem. I've found the best solution to be less use of the driver. I find a 230 - 240yd 3wood right in the middle of the fairway to be a much more favorable tee shot than playing from the junk - which is where I am at least 50% of the time when I use my driver as of late.

[mdbuschsr]

For me it just depends on the day. Often I can straighten out the driver. But today, I just had no idea where it was going. When I really, REALLY slowed down I was able to hit it straight, just short. Honestly, I would rather have my irons than my driver any day. But it was frustrating!

[enis750]

welcome to my world homey
last weekend i hit 1/13 fwy's, 8 GIR's and still scored 76 somehow
i was beat by the end of the round trying to grind that one out

[eprobation]

That happens to me all the time. One day I will be on FIRE with my driver... next day i empty my bag of balls trying to find a fairway with the dang thing...

[WhiteMF]

Hopefully you have another club you can tee off with. I tried to play a round today and on the first hole I knew my driver was in trouble. Played 3 wood for the rest of the round. My buddy was out driving me on almost every hole but I was able to avoid a bunch of penalty shots.

Next time I'll try to get to the course a little earlier so I can hit a few before the first tee.

[nearwater]

Same thing happens to me all the time.
Played 36 holes last Sunday and my drives were just flat out horrible for the first 27 holes.
My effort trying to straighten out the hook ended up with a push to the right. Ugh.
Irons were all decent though. Distance was pretty good with a slight draw.
After the 27 holes, my driver straightened out pretty good, but my irons started to hook a little. Talk about frustration.

Dan

[ks8829]

focus on the path of your backswing, you can practice this with your wedges. solid contact, distance and direction.

what might help is to visualize two parallal lines. The top line is your target line and the lower line is where your feet are line up. I like to use the lines as a guide for the backswing, my goal is to position the shaft down the target line. and if you had your hands open the palm would be facing perpendicular to the target line in the direction you are facing. the position is correct at hip high and may become your pre-shot routine to set this position. From hip high you can lift straight up or slightly inside for a slight draw. lower your rear shoulder so that you stay behind the ball and allows your wrist to naturally release. once your hands have extended passed impact the back of your hand should face perpendicular in the direction you initially were facing, it works for me on my driver, fairway, irons shots and maybe for you as well. good luck.

This, of course is assuming that your grip, posture, distance from the ball, ball position are in the correct positions.